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A Red Orchid Theatre is an ensemble of artists dedicated to the proliferation of live theatre in the modern world.
They believe that theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit and approach their work with a palpable sense of social compassion, aesthetic rigour, and honesty, by presenting new plays from all over the world, and reviving insightful works from the past that bear new relevance today, they aim to seek out and build new audiences for the modern stage.
A Red Orchid Theatre founded by a group of theatre artists in 1993. Since its founding, it has received extensive critical acclaim from the local and national press. The theatre has grown in size from a few dedicated individuals to twelve ensemble members who boast impressive credits throughout the Chicago theatre community. The theatre situated on Wells Street among many fine restaurants and upscale boutiques in the bustling Old Town community.
Within its cosy space, designed and built by the founding members, A Red Orchid Theatre has sustained itself for nearly fifteen years as one of the few professional theatre houses in Chicago with a seating capacity of an intense and intimate eighty seats.
It opened in 1993 with Jack Gelber’s The Connection, a reflection on the beat generation in a nihilistic comedy. The play concerns a group of heroin users - jazz musicians, street folk, and other artists - who come together to wax poetic on the trappings of modern society, do drugs, play music, and suffer the consequences of a bleak existence. This first play, a study of the unique beat sub culture, led to the theatre's name. Writers and poets seemed the best source from which to draw the name of the company, and since the company’s first play was of the beat generation of writers, it only felt right that the name come from the same inspiration.
The founding members looked to many beat writers to name the company. There were considerations from the Jack Kerouac canon; as well as Gregory Corso, Allan Ginsberg and many others. However, in the end, William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch won out with an inspired passage in which the "a red orchid" name is used to reflect on the fragile beauty of life on the edge.
A Red Orchid Theatre quickly earned a name for itself in the early years by producing a rapid series of successful shows to extraordinary praise from the press, audiences, and awards committees.
In 1994, Born Guilty by Ari Roth presented an examination of the lives of adult children of Nazis in post World War II Germany. This production was produced with such success that it was moved to a larger venue for an extended run, and received national press coverage in The Wall Street Journal.
The 1996 production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial received the acclaim that announced A Red Orchid to be “the essence of Chicago theatre.” During this founding period, five consecutive productions were Jeff-Recommended, and, in the summer of 1996, Canus Lunis Ballonis, a twisted story of a Sunday night poker-game amongst drinking buddies gone weird, received a Non-Equity Jeff Citation for Best New Work.
Through the founding members' pursuit of new works and past classics in need of a fresh approach, A Red Orchid Theatre garnered a reputation for producing experimental and edgy shows with impeccable acting and designs.
In 1996, It became an Equity Theatre house. This decision emphasised the theatre’s priority to use and reward Chicago’s best actors with a Cat I Equity contract, providing health insurance for the theatre’s working artists, and mandating an increased budget and box office revenues to secure the theatre’s longevity.
In the latter half of the company's history, the theatre's profile and acknowledgement from the Chicago theatre community intensified. In 1998, Mike Cullen’s The Cut garnered the Joseph Jefferson Award for best scenic design - acknowledging Stephanie Nelson's transformation of the Red Orchid space into an elaborately convincing coal-mine.
In the fall of 2000, Tracy Letts’ Bug nominated for three Jeff awards, including nominations for Best Actor to ensemble member Michael Shannon, Best Actress to Kate Buddeke and Best Sound Design for ensemble member Joe Fosco. The Red Orchid production brought a new vision to Letts’ play - a story of love, paranoia, and government conspiracy in a motel room on the outskirts of Oklahoma City- and inspired The Barrow Street Theatre to bring Letts’ script, along with many of the original Red Orchid cast members, for Bug’s New York City premiere.
Since the theatre’s founding, nine ensemble members have joined early members Guy Van Swearingen, Michael Shannon, and Larry Grimm. In 2001, Tiffany Wilson, resident stage manager, Joe Fosco, resident sound designer, and actors Kirsten Fitzgerald and Doug Vickers were asked to join the creative team at A Red Orchid. In the summer of 2004, accomplished local playwright Brett Neveu along with renown Chicago actors Lance Baker, Danny McCarthy, Jennifer Engstrom, and Mierka Girten cemented the ensemble in its current state as a group of highly accomplished professionals with diverse artistic specialities.
THE TEAM
Kirsten Fitzgerald, Artistic Director
Becky Eaton, Development Coordinator
Duncan Riddell, Literary Manager
Larry Grimm, Director of Education
Steve Wilson, Director - Youth Ensemble
Smyra Yawn, Admin Intern
Box Office Assistants
Walter Briggs, Brian Rad, Missi Davis, Sam Deutsch, Ike Holter, Donnie Sheldon, Nigel Brown, Gabe Benghiat.
1531 N. Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7752
USA
arot@aredorchidtheatre.org
http://www.aredorchidtheatre.org/index.html
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.